Someone To Love Me
by I Am Your Singer 2006
Summary: Based on Cinderella III, the prince fails to reach the harbor in time, and Cinderella is banished. He tries to make sense of everything that has happened, while Anastasia tries to prevent her mother from using the wand on him again. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

This story was inspired by Strager's fanfic _Six Years Later_, which was in turn inspired by the 2007 Disney DTV sequel _Cinderella III: A Twist in Time_. In the story _Six Years Later_, Cinderella's stepmother had succeeded in exiling her, and she returns to her original kingdom as a foreign diplomat six years later. This story will explore that same scenario but dealing with the immediate aftermath. In this story, everything from the original film and the second sequel up until the moment the prince rides out to the harbor is considered "canon." This is not intended to be a prequel to _Six Years Later_. It is my own interpretation of what might have happened. I would strongly recommend that you read _Six Years Later_. Since this story deals with more original material than my other _Cinderella _story, lots of reviews would be highly appreciated. I'd like to have at least five reviews for each chapter, so if you see something you like (or even something you _don't_ like), please leave a review. It would make my day.

Chapter 1

The horse's hooves violently struck the stone pavement, and the clip-clop sound echoed in the street. Villagers and passersby frantically ran out of the way as the horse ran as fast as it could, at the command of its rider, Prince Charles, the crown prince, the only son and heir of King Hugh. The past several hours had been a complete blur to the young prince. Mere hours ago he had believed that Anastasia had been the girl from the ball the previous night. But then an unsettling series of events had suddenly caused him to doubt this. First a young woman with strawberry blonde hair had come to the palace claiming that _she _had been the girl from the ball. Not much later than that, that same woman had been apprehended by the palace guards. One of the guards had said that she was nothing more than a thief, but she didn't look like a thief. She told him that the only reason he didn't recognize her was because he was under a spell. Shortly after that, he was confronted by a pair of talking mice. Talking mice, of all things! The two of them made the same claim, that the girl was the rightful owner of the glass slipper, and that this girl, this "Cinderelly," they had called her, was going to be sent into exile as part of some nefarious plot by her stepmother.

Against his father's wishes, he had immediately jumped on a horse and rode to the harbor in order to figure out who exactly the girl was. He had been riding for several minutes. The harbor had just entered his line of sight. It would not be long before he would reach it.

"Hiyah!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, kicking the side of the horse with his shoe, urging him to gallop even faster. He _had _to figure out who this girl was. Within minutes, he was at the harbor. He quickly jumped off the horse and tied its reigns to a post. He ran off to find the dock officer.

"Is there a problem, Your Highness?" the dock officer asked.

"I would like to check your ship records, sir," the prince said.

The dock officer led him to a building which overlooked the entire harbor. He opened up a large book containing records of cargo, crew, and passengers for all incoming and outgoing vessels in the harbor. Finding that day's date, the dock officer turned to the prince and asked him, "What are you trying to find, Your Highness?"

The prince then explained to him, "A young woman was arranged to be deported from the kingdom, and I would like to prevent the sentence from being carried out. But I have no idea what ship she's been placed on."

The dock officer nodded and checked through that day's records. It took him several minutes to examine the payloads of each ship. After scanning the pages several times, he turned back to the prince.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I can't find any record of a woman being exiled on any of the ships scheduled today," he said.

The prince groaned in frustration. He should have realized that she wouldn't be anywhere in the records. She had been added to the ship only very recently. He quickly ran out of the building. Taking a quick glance, he noticed that there were two ships docked in the harbor at that moment. He ran to the closest sailor he could find.

"I need to speak with your captain at once!" he shouted frantically. The sailor, startled by the prince's tone of voice, nodded and said, "Follow me, your Highness." The sailor then led the prince to his captain's ship, the _Blackadder_. Once on board, the prince quickly introduced himself to the captain.

"I'm requesting permission to search your ship, sir," he said.

"May I ask why, Your Highness?" the captain asked.

"A young woman had been ordered banished from the kingdom, but I believe she may have been wrongfully accused. I have reason to believe that she is somewhere in this harbor."

"I can assure you, Your Highness, that no woman has been placed on this ship. It is strictly a cargo vessel."

"Be that as it may, captain, I would like to inspect this ship personally."

"I normally take offense to people doubting my word, Your Highness," the captain began. Prince Charles began to open his mouth again, but before he could say anything, the captain raised his right hand. "But because I do not wish to cause trouble for the crown, I will give you free reign to search this ship in its entirety."

The prince thanked the captain and proceeded to thoroughly search the vessel. Not finding the girl on board, he apologized to the captain for doubting his word and departed from the ship. A complete search of the other ship docked in the harbor also proved futile. The prince sighed in defeat as he looked out at the sea. He realized that he would never find out who this girl was, so all he could do was get back on his horse and ride straight back to the castle.

…

Lady Tremaine seethed with rage as she saw the prince ride off out of the castle grounds. Up until that point, her plan had worked with near perfection. With the use of a magic wand that her younger daughter, Anastasia, had found by sheer luck, she had managed to reverse time and make the glass slipper fit Anastasia instead of Cinderella. Even though she now fit the slipper, the prince had not intended to propose to Anastasia, claiming that he did not dance with her. This had merely proved to be a minor setback, as Lady Tremaine promptly used the wand to place the prince under a spell, making him _think _that he had danced with Anastasia. The now-charmed prince had then immediately proposed to her.

But Cinderella proved far more determined than Lady Tremaine had anticipated. She was shocked to find that she had somehow infiltrated the castle and very nearly retrieved the magic wand in an effort to foil her plot. Lady Tremaine would have admitted she almost admired the girl for that, almost. But she wasn't about to let her stepdaughter get in the way of things. Fortunately for her, Cinderella was apprehended and she had arranged her banishment from the kingdom. But it appeared that Cinderella might interfere again. She had somehow gotten to Prince Charles, and he was riding off to find her. She would have to improvise once more. She headed towards the room she and her daughters had been assigned to re-think things.

She threw the doors open and stormed into the room. Drizella was sitting at the other side of the room, staring out the window. She didn't flinch when her mother entered the room.

"It's not ever yet!" Lady Tremaine shouted.

Drizella quickly turned her head towards her mother and asked, "Huh?"

"He thinks he can ruin my plans," Lady Tremaine said to herself. "I think not."

"Who?" Anastasia asked nervously.

"The prince," her mother told her, still angry. He's gone after Cinderella."

Anastasia paled. "But I thought he loved _me._"

"Mother?" Drizella was now looking out the window again. Lady Tremaine and Anastasia walked over to the window to observe the scene below.

…

Prince Charles now rode his horse at an extremely slow pace, in no hurry to return to the castle. There was no need for him to rush, and his horse needed the rest. He tried to make sense of everything that had just happened. Several questions ran through his mind. Who exactly was this "Cinderelly?" Was she really the girl from the ball? Why was he so determined to find her when he didn't even remember her? Why would her stepmother do this to her? And if Cinderelly really was the girl from the ball, then who was Anastasia? How were they connected? Were they connected at all? He tried to shake these questions aside, doubting he would ever truly come to learn the answers to any of them.

He looked up at the gray sky and saw that it was about to rain. Until then he had been content to move at a slow, leisurely pace. But when the raindrops began to fall, he quickened his pace. When he finally returned to the castle, he saw his father and the Grand Duke waiting for him in the front courtyard. He dismounted the horse and said to this father, "I suppose I owe you an explanation for what I just did."

The king nodded and gestured towards the castle entrance. "We should go inside first, no sense standing out here in the rain. You can tell me about it in there," he said.

…

The king led the Grand Duke and his son down a long hallway towards the palace library when he heard a squeaky voice saying, "Princey! Princey! Did you find her?" The king turned around and saw his son down on one knee shaking his head softly, with a look of regret on his face.

"No, I didn't find her. By the time I made it to the harbor it was too late. She was already gone," the prince said, but the king didn't see anyone else in the hallway.

"Son, who is that?" he asked, walking towards his son. The prince stood back up and turned back towards his father.

"These are the mice I mentioned before, before I ran off to the harbor," he explained, pointing towards the floor where the mice were still standing.

"Are they the ones who warned you that Anastasia wasn't the girl from the ball?" the king asked.

The prince nodded. "I don't blame you for not understanding. I thought I'd lost my mind when I first heard them," he said, still feeling a little embarrassed. The king chuckled softly in amusement before he knelt down on one knee to get a closer look at the mice.

"I don't think you told me what your names were," the prince said.

"I'm Jaq Jaq, and this here is Gus Gus."

The king chuckled again. "Well, Jaq Jaq," he began, "would you and Gus Gus join us so we can discuss what's happened in the past few hours?"

Jaq and Gus nodded and followed them. With the mice joining them, they began to make their way towards the library again. No one would hear them in there. Once inside, the king closed the door behind them, turned back towards his son, and asked, "Now, what exactly happened before you ran off?"

Prince Charles began to tell his father his story. "I was alone practicing fencing when a pair of bluebirds flew into the room. They then flew towards me and grabbed onto my shirt with their talons. After they tried to drag me away, I waved them off, only to see them come back at me. I then realized they were trying to convince me to follow them. They led me towards the main staircase where a young woman dressed as a servant was at the top of the stairs. I had seen her just a few hours earlier, when she claimed that I had danced with _her_, not Anastasia. Suddenly she was apprehended by two of the palace guards. I ran up the stairs to figure out what had happened. Anastasia's mother then appeared and told me that the girl was her maid. One of the guards claimed that she was a thief, but she immediately denied that before claiming that I didn't recognize her because I had been placed under a spell. Anastasia's mother then claimed that something was wrong with her and that she would handle it. I didn't know what to believe, so I went to talk to you. Before I could explain things, these two mice here, asked me to talk with them in another room. They said the exact same thing, that the servant girl -they said her name was Cinderelly- was actually the girl from the ball, and that I couldn't remember her because of this spell."

"One moment, son," the king interrupted. "I'd like to know how exactly these mice know this girl." He turned to Jaq and Gus, who now were sitting on a table. "Would you care to explain that to me?" he asked both of them.

Jaq quickly stood up and said to the king, "We lived in Cinderelly's house. She found me in a trap several years ago, and she rescued me from it, same with Gus Gus. She became our friend."

"I see. Can you prove that this Cinderelly was really at the ball?"

Both mice immediately knew how to answer this. They began to jump up and down yelling, "The slipper, the slipper!"

"Slipper?" the king asked in confusion.

"They mean the glass slipper, father. When they were talking with me, they showed me the other slipper."

The prince then left the room and returned a few minutes later with the slipper. He placed it on the table near where his father was standing. When both of them took a closer look at it, the prince noticed that the slipper was cracked in several places.

"It looks like the slipper was broken. I hadn't noticed that when the mice brought it here."

"How was it broken?" the king asked, turning from the slipper to the mice.

"Stepmother broke it," Jaq said solemnly. "She knew Cinderelly could use it to prove who she was."

"Stepmother?" the king asked in confusion.

"Anastasia's mother is Cinderelly's step-mother," the prince quickly explained. "They said that she put me under the spell, and that, when she learned that Cinderelly came to the palace to remind me of who she was, she had arranged for her to be placed on a ship and banished from the kingdom. I got on my horse and rode to the harbor as fast as I could. But when I got there, I learned that the ship had already left, and I couldn't find out what ship she was on, or where its destination was. With seemingly no way to figure out who she was, I had no other choice but to come back here."

At this point the Grand Duke, who had been silent up until this point, spoke up. "I knew we couldn't trust that woman," he whispered. The king and prince both looked towards him.

"Did you sense any deception from her initially?" the prince asked.

"No, Your Highness, I did not, but I was not particularly looking, either. When I began to read the proclamation, she informed me that she was already fully aware of the proclamation, and then suggested that I should begin the fitting immediately. At the time, I was simply relieved that I didn't have to read the proclamation again, but in hindsight I suppose that could have been an indication that she was hiding something. No other house I had visited had interrupted me."

"And what about when they arrived at the palace?" the king asked.

"She has been simply unbearable, Your Majesty," the Grand Duke said, sounding relieved that he had finally said it. "She berated my preparations for the wedding, trying to overrule them. She called them 'entirely unacceptable.' Then, when her two daughters began fighting each over some trivial matter, she did nothing to stop them, and then proceeded to blame me for letting it happen."

The king stood silently for a moment, pondering over what he had just been told. After a few minutes, he sighed and then said, "It all makes sense now. Just this afternoon, Anastasia couldn't dance at all, but the girl from last night had a perfect step. Furthermore, the two girls look nothing alike. It is one thing if you really were under a spell, but I should have known. And even if I hadn't, the Grand Duke should have noticed this."

There was a long pause. The prince rubbed his temples in thought as he tried to make sense of the past several hours, while his father began to pace back and forth, trying to do the same. Finally the king broke the silence and asked, "So what do you think we should do now?"

The prince thought for a moment before turning and heading towards the door. "I'm going to talk to her."

The king looked up. "Who?"

"Anastasia."

"Why? What would that accomplish?" the king asked incredulously. If what the mice said was true, the king thought, then he doubted that Anastasia would tell them anything.

"I don't know, but I don't think we'll find anything out from her mother or sister. You talked to her earlier. What did you think of her?"

"She seemed sincere, from what I saw. But that was before I heard all this. If the story is true, then how can we trust her?"

"That's what I want to know." He turned back towards the mice. "Was Anastasia involved in any way?"

Jaq and Gus looked at each other for a moment before they both shook their heads. "I never saw Anastasia use the wand," Jaq said.

"Then all we know is that her mother was behind this," the prince said, turning back to his father. "We don't know how much Anastasia was involved, or if she was involved at all. If we can somehow figure out her involvement, then maybe we can decide what to do. I need you here, too. I want you to talk to her with me," he concluded. He turned to the Grand Duke and asked him to escort Anastasia to them. The Grand Duke nodded and walked out the door.

…

Lady Tremaine had initially breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the prince return alone. Cinderella had indeed been sent away. But that feeling did not last very long. Even with Cinderella now out of the picture for good, there was still a chance her plan could unravel. Their secret might have been discovered.

Anastasia did not share in this concern. She had watched in confusion as she saw the prince riding back to the castle. It didn't make any sense to her. She hadn't learned that Cinderella had been banished. For all Anastasia knew, Cinderella was still somewhere inside the castle.

"Where did the prince go, mother?"

"You don't need to worry about it, Anastasia," her mother said sharply. She didn't want any further distractions from either or her daughters. She needed to think. She began to pace back and forth in the room, tapping her hand with the wand.

"If the prince went to look for her, then there's a chance he found out about the wand," she said to herself.

"And if he has?" Drizella asked.

Fortunately for Lady Tremaine, she still held possession of the wand. She had already used it several times to forward her plan, and she didn't see any reason why she couldn't simply use it again.

"I suppose I'll just have to use the wand on him again. I'll make him forget all about this," she said decisively.

"Please don't, mother," Anastasia begged. "I want him to love me for who I am."

Lady Tremaine sharply turned around and faced her daughter, narrowing her eyes. "And what is love to me?" she snapped. "Love is not important to me, and it shouldn't be important to you, either. It is nothing compared to the power and wealth you'll soon have once he marries you. Love doesn't give you that, and it is time you realized this."

"But mother, I...Please, just let me try it. It _is _important to me."

Lady Tremaine narrowed her eyes even further as she glared angrily at her daughter. "Anastasia, I don't want to hear any more of your foolishness," she hissed. "We are too close to succeeding for you to take a chance like this."

"But mother, I really think he could love me."

Lady Tremaine opened her mouth to retort once more, but before she could answer, Drizella spoke up.

"It's too risky."

Anastasia and her mother turned when Drizella had spoken up. Anastasia had expected her older sister to mock her with some scathing remark. But instead, Drizella's voice had been shaky, and she seemed suddenly frail. She was shivering.

"If he doesn't fall in love with you, we could all be in trouble." She looked afraid, but it was more than just fear of their plan failing. It was fear of her mother. Drizella had nearly jeopardized the plan herself by taunting Cinderella as the guards removed her from the castle, and her mother had threatened to banish her as well as a result if she made another mistake. She didn't want to upset her mother again.

Suddenly they heard someone knocking at the door. Lady Tremaine hid the wand up her sleeve and opened the door. The Grand Duke was standing outside.

"Prince Charles would like to speak with Anastasia immediately, and he would like her to come alone," he informed them. Anastasia silently followed the Grand Duke out the door. Once the door had been closed, Lady Tremaine took the wand back out and began pacing again.

"She had better not ruin my plan," she mumbled to herself. Drizella looked up but didn't respond.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Uploaded today to coincide with the Diamond Edition re-release of the original film (10/02/12). I cannot stress this enough, but please review this and the previous chapter. Thank you.

Chapter 2

Anastasia nervously followed the Grand Duke down the hallway. When asked, he informed her that the king and prince would not want him to tell her why they wanted to speak with her. That made Anastasia even more nervous. What if they had found out what had happened? What would they do to her? By the time they reached the palace library, Anastasia was barely holding herself together. The Grand Duke reached up and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal Prince Charles, who gestured for Anastasia to enter the room. She silently walked into the room, with the Grand Duke entering behind her. She was directed towards a chair in the middle of the room, where she sat down and rested her hands on her lap. The prince stepped in front of her, while the king stood a few steps off to the side. Jaq and Gus were secretly watching from the chandelier. They were particularly curious to see how this would unfold.

The prince tried to discern the best way to question Anastasia before deciding simply to take a direct approach.

"You're not the girl that danced with me last night, are you?" he asked her.

Anastasia, who had been staring at her hands, suddenly looked up nervously to face the prince. She opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing. She didn't know what to say. She knew that telling the truth would bring consequences from the king, and possibly from her mother as well, but she couldn't bring herself to lie to the prince. She realized that, if she really wanted him to love her for her, she would have to be honest with him. Furthermore, she knew that they both would likely find out eventually. Her mother had also said that they may have already learned it. She tilted her head down, no longer able to look the prince in the eye, and quietly shook her head.

"What?" the king shouted. Anastasia was so frightened by the king's thunderous voice that she fell out of her chair. Even the prince was started by his father's outburst. Anastasia began to tremble as she tried to back away from the angry king.

"This…this is treason!" he continued shouting. Anastasia's eyes widened in horror as the king stepped towards her. But before he could signal for the guards, the prince turned to his father and shouted, "Father, calm down! Do you want to scare her half to death?"

The prince helped Anastasia up and sat her back down in the chair before saying, "I'm sorry about my father's behavior. He's very excitable. Please, continue. Who danced with me last night?"

Anastasia, still trembling, looked up at the prince and answered, "Cinderella," pain evident in her voice. Anastasia thought that the prince could possibly fall in love with her without help from the wand, and she wished for that more than anything in the world. But his question practically ended that thought. _The prince is still in love with Cinderella_, she thought. _He'll never love me. I never should have taken what was rightfully hers. How could I have been so selfish?_

The prince furrowed his brows when he heard the name. It sounded nearly identical to the name the mice had given him. He turned and approached his father and asked in a whisper, "Do you think she could be the 'Cinderelly' the mice had mentioned?"

The king nodded and Prince Charles turned his glance back towards Anastasia.

"Does this Cinderella have strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes, and wear a maid's outfit?" he asked her.

Anastasia nodded her head weakly. "She's my stepsister. My mother placed you under a spell, hoping that you would marry me instead of her, but she came to the castle to try and stop her." She then took off the engagement ring the prince had given her earlier that day and handed it to him. She thought that maybe she could begin setting things right for herself. "She should still be here, if you wish to find her," she added, not knowing what had really happened.

The prince stared at the ring for a moment before looking at Anastasia with a sense of uncertainty. It appeared that she had told him the truth, but the last sentence troubled him. He didn't know if Anastasia honestly did not know what had happened. He decided to tell Anastasia and gauge her reaction.

"Well," he began, "I actually tried that already."

"What do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"Well, about an hour ago, someone told me that, without my approval, your mother had arranged for Cinderella to be placed on a ship and banished from the kingdom. I went to the harbor to try to find her, but the ship had already departed. Tell me, why would your mother do something like that? What sort of history does your mother have with Cinderella?" the prince asked.

Anastasia struggled to find an answer. She and her family never got along with Cinderella, but she never would have thought her mother would go that far.

"I…" she began hesitantly. She kept trying to think. She had begun to recall her entire life up to that point, from the time she had first met Cinderella, trying to come up with an answer. Deep down, she had to know somewhere. Suddenly, Anastasia gasped and covered her mouth with both hands.

_ "So this is how Cinderella did it. What delicious irony!" ______Lady Tremaine grinned and turned to her daughters._ "Do you realize what this means, girls?"

_"Yes, no more laundry!" Drizella shouted.  
_

_"Ugh," Lady Tremaine groaned in frustration. "It means power. Riches."  
_

_"Revenge."_

_"Oh," Anastasia and Drizella both said. The two girls ran towards their mother and tried to reach for the wand.  
_

_"I want to be dirty, filthy, stinking rich!" Drizella shouted. _

_"Oh, I want a prince of my own! Oh please, please, please." Anastasia cried.  
_

_"Give it to me!"  
_

_"No, give it to me!"  
_

_As the two girls fought for the wand, Lady Tremaine stepped aside and said, "Girls! Girls! First things first. Now, Cinderella, to undo your trickery and take what's rightfully ours, I call upon all the forces of the universe! Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! Reverse the moon and sun, turn back tide and time, unravel Cinderella's happily ever after to the moment my troubles began!"_

She remembered that her mother had said that just before she had used the want to reverse time. Her voice sounded dark, almost savage. She didn't understand why her mother had said this, but quickly put aside those thoughts when her mother made the slipper fit her. But now, after seeing Prince Charles return to the castle, after her mother was intent on using the wand on him again, after what the prince had told her, she realized what her mother had meant. She covered her face with hands and whispered, "Oh, no. It's all my fault."

The prince turned to her and asked, "What's all your fault?"

Anastasia uncovered her face and looked away from them. She then realized that the king and prince would need to know everything that had happened. "I think I should tell you about my past. It might take a while for me to explain everything," she said quietly. The king and prince both sat down in other chairs.

"You may begin," the king said.

"My father died when I was very little. I was only around five years old. My mother thought it best if we still had a father figure, so she had hoped to remarry. About a year later, she met Cinderella's father. Her mother had also died recently, and he was looking for a mother figure for her. They married shortly thereafter. Her father quickly accepted both me and Drizella like we were his own daughters, but my mother never accepted Cinderella. Her father died less than a year later, and it was then that my mother turned against her. Cinderella was always more beautiful, gentler, and kinder than Drizella or I ever were. We were always plain, and petty, and clumsy. My mother wanted to marry both of us off to nobility someday, but she thought Cinderella would marry someone of higher status than we could. So she…" Anastasia suddenly began to tear up, and she covered her face with her hands once again.

"She what?" the king prompted.

Anastasia began to tremble again as she lowered her head. "She forced her to work as a maid and made her do all the chores in her own home. She was unspeakably cruel to her, and we just went along with it. She then spoiled us immeasurably. She would give me and Drizella anything we wanted, but never Cinderella. She would end every day exhausted and was forced to sleep in the dirty, dusty, attic. That's how she came to be called Cinderella. I don't even remember what her given name is. We became vain, and selfish, and cruel. We would constantly berate her, torment her, and order her around, and she would never stand up to us. This went on for nearly ten years, until last year, when we received the invitation for the ball."

The prince found Anastasia's phrasing odd. "Wouldn't you mean 'yesterday?'" he asked. "The ball was just last night, and your family would have received the invitation that afternoon."

Anastasia looked up suddenly. She then realized she would have to explain what exactly her mother did with the wand. She wasn't dreading explaining that part so much as explaining what she did right before leaving for the ball. The king and prince didn't show it in their faces, but Anastasia could only imagine how appalled they both must have been at her by this point, and it could only get worse.

She swallowed nervously and continued, "Yes, and Drizella and I both ridiculed the idea of her attending."

"But the invitation made it clear that every maiden in the kingdom was to attend," the king objected.

She nodded. "I know, and Cinderella quickly pointed that out. My mother promised to let her go with us if she could finish her chores and find a dress to wear in time for the ball. But then she just conspired to give her more chores than she normally would so she wouldn't even have time to prepare a dress."

"But she managed to finish them anyway," the prince observed.

"Yes, but by the time our carriage had arrived, it didn't look like she was ready and she told us she wasn't going. But then, right when we were about to leave, she ran down the stairs wearing a pink gown that she had somehow finished from clothing we didn't want to wear. But Drizella and I were so angered at the thought of her taking our clothes that we…"

Anastasia began to tear up again and her lips began to tremble. She tried to maintain her composure but couldn't. She was so ashamed of what she had done that she burst into tears and began to sob. She was able to regain her composure briefly and speak in between sobs.

"We…tore…her gown…apart…and we…went without her," she finally said. Even though the event had been well over a year ago, it remained clear in Anastasia's memory. Her mother had commented on the beads she was wearing. Drizella suddenly realized that they were _her _beads. She exploded into a rage and yanked the necklace away from Cinderella's neck. Anastasia then proceeded to rip her sash from Cinderella's waist. She remembered seeing Cinderella pleading for them to stop, but that only served to enrage her and her sister even further. Before too long, Cinderella's gown, the only possession of her mother that she still had, was torn completely to shreds. Anastasia couldn't bear to look up to see how either of them had reacted. On the chandelier, Jaq and Gus painfully remembered the incident, how they had been forced to watch helplessly as they saw all of their work being undone in such a violent act. For them, the incident had only occurred the previous night. Once Anastasia had stopped crying, she continued with her story.

"But then somehow she was still able to go the ball. I didn't even realize she had gone until the next morning."

"And how did you find out?" the prince asked.

Anastasia looked up reluctantly. She didn't know if she could properly explain what had happened that morning. "I'm not sure you'll understand this. Originally, the slipper didn't fit either me or my sister. Just when the Grand Duke was about to leave, Cinderella asked if she could try on the slipper. But before she had a chance to try it on, the Grand Duke's page suddenly tripped, and the slipper broke. Then Cinderella reached into her pocket and showed him the _other_ slipper. She was brought here and eventually married you," she said, looking up at the prince, who, along with the king, looked extremely confused.

"But how is that possible?" they both asked.

"Please, let me continue. With Cinderella gone, Drizella and I now had to do the household chores. I began to realize how bitter I had become. I had always been bitter since my stepfather died. Even though my mother had given me everything I'd ever wanted, I realized that I wasn't truly happy. And deep down I realized that I wanted what Cinderella had. Yes, wealth and status would have been nice. Yes, I wanted a prince. But deep down I knew I wanted happiness. I wanted _love_. About a year after that, I had run off one day, trying to avoid doing chores, when I saw the Prince and Cinderella having a picnic together. It was the first time any of us had seen her since she was brought to the castle. Then an elderly woman suddenly appeared and waved a magic wand and transformed both of their clothes into what they wore at the ball that night. It was then that I found out how she was able to make it to the ball. It was because of that wand, and I thought that, if I could get my hands on the wand, maybe I could escape from the life I had and find my own happiness. When the wand suddenly dropped right in front of me, I saw my chance. I picked it up and ran with it. I showed it to my mother, and told her it could solve all our problems. But the woman tried to take it back from me, and I wasn't ready to give it up. There was a struggle and I accidentally turned her into stone. Then my mother took the wand from me, used it to reverse time back to this day, and made the slipper fit me."

The king's mouth hung open in shock. His confusion was shared by the prince, who incredulously asked, "Reverse time?"

Anastasia nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. After we were brought to the castle, I was presented to you, but you didn't intend to marry me, because I hadn't danced with you. I tried to beg you to stay, but before I could, my mother put you under the spell, and you proposed to me."

"And that's what set everything in motion," the prince concluded.

"Just now I remembered what my mother said before she turned back time," Anastasia said, speaking more quickly. "She told us the wand meant a chance for _revenge_. It was never about me. She didn't do this because she wanted what was best for me. She was only interested in ruining Cinderella. She _used_ me to ruin Cinderella, and only now did I realize it because I was so blinded by the thought of getting a chance to marry you. What's worse is that _I_ started it all by taking the wand."

Tears began to form in her eyes again.

"Please, Your Highness, I never meant for things to happen like this. I just wanted to be happy." Her voice was now barely above a whisper. She wiped away her tears and her lips began to tremble once again. She inhaled sharply before looking back up at them. "I'm so sorry," she said weakly before she covered her face with her hands and burst into tears again.

The king and prince sat in complete shock. They didn't know how to react to what Anastasia had just told them. Normally they both would have dismissed the notion of magic wands and time reversals, had it not been for the fact that a pair of talking mice had confirmed this story. From their view on the chandelier, Jaq and Gus were even more shocked, both that Anastasia admitted to what had happened, and also that she felt guilty. The prince looked up towards them, silently asking for confirmation of Anastasia's story. Both mice nodded. On that, he stood up and gestured for his father to join him. The king and prince went over to the far end of the library to discuss what they had just heard, making sure that Anastasia couldn't hear them.

"I honestly don't know what to make of all this. If I was under a spell, I don't even know if I still am," the prince began. "But I don't think there's anything we can do about this. Even if this Cinderella really was the girl from the ball, we have no idea where she is. We have no way to find her. We don't know what ship she was on, and we don't know which guards took her to the ship."

"But there's the wand. If we could retrieve it from her mother, we could fix this," the king pointed out.

"Getting the wand would be very risky. Her mother might use it against us before we even get a chance to take it from her. Plus, even if we could retrieve it, neither of us would know how to use it and we don't even know the extent of its power. It might not even be able to reverse what's already been done."

"Then what should we do with Anastasia?" the king asked.

The prince turned back and looked at Anastasia, who was still sitting in her seat. She had stopped crying and was now looking at the two of them anxiously. His eyes narrowed slightly as he thought about everything that Anastasia had told him. From what he could gather, Anastasia was not directly involved in her mother's plot. But he was also slightly wary of Anastasia's story. She could have been trying to cover herself and avoid being punished. Regardless, he did not feel that he or his father could take immediate action. He sighed and turned back towards his father.

"Father, about the proclamation," he began.

"I wouldn't dare ask that of you now, son."

"I know, father. That's not what I meant. The kingdom is going to expect us to announce that we've found her fairly soon. We'll probably only have a few days before we'll have to announce that we've found someone who fits the slipper. I'm not sure what we can do. I think Anastasia's involvement in this was minimal, at most. I think we have to let her and her family stay in the palace for a while, until we can decide what to do about her mother," he said.

"Are you saying we should just do nothing and let that woman continue to coerce us?" the king asked incredulously. "I refuse to just let her get away with this!"

"I didn't say I liked the idea, father. I just think it's necessary. We can't just send Anastasia away now, not while her mother still has the wand. She would probably use it against us, and even if she doesn't, she might use it to harm Anastasia now that she has confessed everything to us."

The king wanted to protest his son's idea. He did not approve of it at all. The thought of being forced to do nothing deeply angered him. But he also realized his son's argument. They couldn't do anything about it at the moment. The king simply nodded, giving his consent. The two of them turned around and walked back towards Anastasia.

"We have decided that you can stay at the palace along with your family as guests. You will not be punished. I do not believe this was your fault," the prince said to her. "I will have the Grand Duke arrange rooms for each of you, and you will have access to all of the castle's amenities. If you need or want anything, the palace staff is available any hour of the day. And please, do not tell your mother that you've told us anything. You are free to go now."

Anastasia's blue eyes widened in surprise. She was taken aback by the kindness he had just shown her. The prince had no reason to trust her. He could have had her imprisoned for what she had just told him. But instead, he had spared her. The sting of guilt still remained, but a sense of relief came over her as well. "Thank you, Your highness," she said softly. She slowly rose from her seat and headed towards the door. As she walked out the door, the king turned to his son.

"I hope your plan works," he said solemnly. The prince nodded in agreement.

...

A/N: I set up these first few chapters to explain what happened in the 3rd movie for those who haven't seen it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On the other side of the door, Anastasia went straight to the room which she, her mother, and sister had been given. She began to feel nervous once again. Anastasia knew that her mother would ask her why they wanted to speak with her, which meant she would have to lie to her. Even with what she now knew, Anastasia still was unsettled by the thought of having to lie to her own mother, even if it was for her benefit, as well as that of the king and prince. She also feared that her mother wouldn't believe her. But she supposed that country came before family, as her mother had essentially undermined the monarchy. She took a deep breath before entering the room. Drizella's head shot up the moment she saw her sister enter the room. Her mother immediately walked towards her.

"What did they want?" Drizella asked apprehensively.

"Have they found out about the wand?" her mother asked bluntly.

"No, mother, they haven't. They didn't ask about it , so I'm guessing they haven't. Nothing has changed," Anastasia said rather quickly. "We will be staying in the palace as guests for a while. The Grand Duke is arranging rooms for us."

"I trust, then, that there will still be a wedding?"

Anastasia nearly froze. She didn't know if the wedding would still take place, or if Prince Charles would even _think_ of marrying her after what she told him. She realized she would have to tell the prince about this quickly. A small part of her still wished that he could still somehow fall in love with her despite what she told him, but that seemed unlikely. She knew her mother would use the wand on the prince again if she knew what had really happened. Anastasia felt she couldn't let that happen. She had to make up a story quickly.

"Yes, but they felt it best to postpone it for a while. The king wants it to be a very big wedding, since it will be an important occasion, as I am about to become the princess. They need to plan a lot for it."

Anastasia silently prayed that her mother would believe her. Lady Tremaine narrowed her eyes when her daughter said this. She was not particularly thrilled about postponing the wedding for any reason at all. Any delay also meant a delay in her obtaining wealth and status, but she also knew that there was no longer any urgency to proceed as quickly as possible. Cinderella was gone, and if the prince still intended to marry Anastasia, as she had claimed, that would mean that he had no further plans to search for her. But she had to find out for certain that they would not search for her.

"And just how long has the wedding been delayed?" her mother asked curiously.

"I couldn't say for certain. They also want to make sure that I'm ready to handle royal duties. I don't think they know when exactly the wedding will be."

"And what of Cinderella? Did either of them ask about her?" she asked.

Anastasia felt the sting of guilt once more at hearing her stepsister's name, but she tried her best to hide it. It was necessary to avoid drawing any suspicion from her mother. She was able to maintain her composure and said, "No mother, they did not."

Her mother seemed to accept this.

"Excellent," she said with a grin. "Well then, Anastasia, it appears that you got your wish. I won't have to use the wand on him."

Anastasia nodded, feeling relieved. "Thank you, mother," she said softly.

It was now early evening, and shortly thereafter the Grand Duke came to their room to escort them to one of the dining halls for their dinner. When he opened the door, they saw a long table set for three in the middle of the room. Lady Tremaine took the seat at the far end of the table, with Drizella sitting on her left and Anastasia sitting on her right. After the three of them took their seats, the Grand Duke promptly left. A few minutes later, a young chambermaid brought them drinks, bread, and a large bowl of salad. She briefly tossed the salad before placing some onto Drizella's plate, before moving on to Lady Tremaine's, and finally, Anastasia's. Once the chambermaid had left, the three of them began to eat. As they ate, Lady Tremaine noticed that Anastasia was unusually quiet. She was about to ask her about this before she noticed Drizella eating her salad rather noisily. It was getting rather annoying, and she felt it was unbecoming for someone of their social standing to eat so tactlessly. She would have to put a stop to it.

"Drizella!" she shouted.

Drizella winced at the sound of her mother's voice and accidentally dropped her fork, which made a loud clanking sound when it landed on the plate. She looked up nervously.

"Yes, mother?" she asked fearfully.

"What did I tell you earlier this afternoon?" her mother asked harshly. "Are you trying to ruin this again? Your sister is about to become royalty, and I expect you to behave as such. That includes your table manners."

"I'm sorry, mother. It won't happen again," Drizella said quickly.

Lady Tremaine sneered at her. "See that it doesn't. I do not wish to see another mishap from you," she said before taking a sip of wine.

Drizella shivered and went back to her salad again, this time trying to eat as quietly as possible. Anastasia looked at her sister in confusion. What had happened to Drizella? Why did she suddenly seem so afraid? She wanted to ask her why she was acting so strange but she felt uncomfortable asking in front of her mother. Lady Tremaine then turned her attention back to her younger daughter. It was time to figure out what was behind Anastasia's behavior.

"Anastasia?" she asked.

Anastasia, who had been eating a piece of bread, looked up to face her mother, fearing what she would ask next.

"You've been awfully quiet since the king and prince spoke with you," she said in a gentle tone of voice that Anastasia no longer believed was sincere. "Is something bothering you?"

"I…I'm sorry, mother. It's just that I haven't much to say, I'm afraid," she said, thinking fast.

"Indeed," she said disbelievingly. She suspected that Anastasia might have been hiding something from her, but whatever it was could not have been anything important, since she told her that nothing had changed. And she knew that Anastasia could be shy at times, so she simply brushed the thought aside for the moment. "Perhaps it's just the weather," she added. Anastasia nodded. The door then opened and a palace waiter brought them their main course. The rest of the evening passed without incident.

…

A few hours later the Grand Duke showed the three of them to their rooms. Anastasia remembered that she needed to tell the prince what she had said to her mother about their conversation. She waited until both her mother and sister had gone into their rooms for the night before turning to the Grand Duke as they continued down the hallway.

"Your Grace, if it's possible, I need to speak with the prince early tomorrow morning," she told him. As he stopped in front of the door to her room, the Grand Duke looked at her suspiciously and asked, "About what?"

"After I got back to our room, my mother asked me if the prince still intended to marry me. I panicked and said that he did, because I knew that if she found out that I'd confessed everything, she would use the wand on him again. I didn't want that to happen."

Anastasia shuddered slightly once she had explained what had happened, out of fear and uncertainty at how the Grand Duke would react. She was relieved when the Grand Duke simply nodded and said, "Yes, he'll need to know about this as soon as possible."

He then opened the door and led Anastasia inside. The room was dark, and the only light came from a candle which the Grand Duke was carrying. Placing the candle on the dresser nearest the door, he gestured to a rope hanging from the ceiling.

"If you need anything, you may pull on this rope. It will ring a bell and an attendant will come to your room. You may ring the bell at any time," he told her.

"Thank you, Your Grace," Anastasia said softly. The Grand Duke nodded and walked out the door. In the candlelight, Anastasia now had a better look at her room. A large bed was at the other end of the room, with a nightstand on its right and a large window overlooking the palace gardens on its left. On top of the bed lay a nightgown which had been provided for her. Anastasia picked up the candle and placed it on a vanity on the side of the room near the door. She quickly undressed before putting on the nightgown. The gown was somewhat loose but felt comfortably soft against her skin. She turned and looked at herself in the mirror. She frowned slightly at the reflection that stared back at her. _I wish I could be as beautiful as Cinderella, _she thought to herself. _But mother now has the wand. Maybe I could use it to make myself more beautiful…but is it right?_

Anastasia silently blew out the candle and the room became dark. She looked out the window. The moon now provided the only light in the otherwise dark room. Anastasia could see the raindrops that had gathered on the window. It had rained continuously since the afternoon. Tears began to form in her eyes as her thoughts drifted to her stepsister. She should be the one at the palace. She should be a guest of the prince. _I'm so sorry, Cinderella. If I ever see you again, I'll apologize for everything I ever did to you. If I ever see you again, I'll ask you, no, beg you, to forgive me. If I ever…oh God, I just hope you're alright, wherever that ship goes. _She fell to her knees and clasped her hands in prayer. "Please, God, keep her safe," she whispered. "If anything should happen to her, I'll never be able to forgive myself."

Anastasia climbed into her bed, pulled the covers over, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

…

_Many miles away, Cinderella sat shivering on the main deck. The rain continued to fall and a strong wind blew through the air. They had been sailing for several hours now and land was nowhere in sight. Night had fallen and the sky had been dark for some time. She felt completely out of place amidst the crew, so all she could do was sit there and stare out blankly towards the horizon. Many of the crew had given her weird looks when she was brought aboard, and it made her feel uncomfortable. _

_Today had been quite possibly the most miserable day of her life. After years of torment at the hands of her step-family, she finally had a chance at happiness, only to see it torn away from her once again by her stepmother. With the help of her fairy godmother, she had been able to make it the ball the previous night, and had the pleasure of dancing with the prince himself, and the next day she learned that prince intended to marry her. But that same wand would later result in her dreams being destroyed. Her stepmother somehow had somehow stolen the wand from her fairy godmother and made the prince forget all about her, and then arranged for her to be banished from the kingdom._

_Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning flashed across the dark sky, and the rain began to fall harder. The wind also began to blow harder. A storm was coming. The captain began shouting orders and the crew sprang to life as they tried to steady the ship amidst the growing waves. Cinderella could only watch and stay out of their way. She didn't want to cause any trouble. The ship bobbed up and down as it was tossed among the waves. Suddenly a huge wave crashed into the side of the ship, causing a hatch to break open. Water began to pour into the ship as it slowly listed towards one side. _

_The captain ran to that side of the ship and called for some of the sailors. Several crewmen rushed to that side of the ship in order to try to close the hatch and pour the water out of the ship. Another much larger wave then crashed into ship, breaking in another hatch. Water began to pour in much faster as the ship violently lunged further. It was then that Cinderella lost her balance and fell overboard. As she landed in the water, Cinderella frantically tried to stay afloat, but it was no use. She didn't know how to swim. After a few minutes of struggling she sank beneath the waves and began to drown._

…

"No!" Anastasia cried as she woke up. She was trembling all over as she sat up in her bed. She looked around her room and saw it was still dark. The rain was now falling harder than before. She told herself that it was only a nightmare and began to lay back down before a loud clap of thunder rang out. Anastasia shrieked and cringed at the sound before hiding under her comforter. She remembered the first time she had experienced a thunderstorm, when she was just four years old. It was also in the middle of the night, and the lightning and thunder had absolutely terrified her. It had scared her so much that she ran all the way through the dark to her parents' bedroom, crying. Her father reassured her that she was completely safe and took her back to her room. He then tucked her into her bed and kept watch over her until she fell back asleep. With the storm and the nightmare she had just had, Anastasia felt like that frightened little girl again. When she heard another thunderclap, she threw off the covers and jumped off her bed. She ran towards the door and began ringing the bell frantically. She was still pulling on the rope when the door suddenly opened and someone entered the room.

"I'm sorry," the attendant said quickly. "I had already fallen asleep by the time you rang for me. I came here as fast as I…" the attendant stopped suddenly when she saw Anastasia's face in the candlelight. She was a young chambermaid with chestnut brown hair. "Oh, hello," she said rather cheerfully. "I don't believe I've seen you before. Did you come to the palace recently?"

The young redhead nodded softly. "Yes, I only came to the castle this morning, so I wouldn't expect many people here have seen me before. My name is Anastasia. My family and I are staying here as guests of the prince."

The chambermaid smiled and placed the candle on the dresser. "Oh, of course, I was told about you. It's nice to meet you, Anastasia. My name is Abigail. I'm actually going to be your personal servant while you're here. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you sooner."

Anastasia was surprised. She hadn't expected to be given a personal servant. "It's alright. I think we've all been fairly busy today."

"What can I do for you, Anastasia?"

"Company," she said.

"Company?" Abigail repeated.

"I'm sorry. I just had this horrible nightmare that scared me half to death. Then when I woke up I saw there was a thunderstorm outside, and the thunder scared me even more. It reminded me of one back when I was a little girl, and how afraid I was. I know I'm asking for a lot since it's so late at night, but could you please stay here for a while and keep me company?" she asked shakily.

Abigail looked at the shivering girl with concern. She wondered if there was more than just the nightmare or the storm that had scared her so much. Whatever had happened had obviously shaken her up. Abigail wished she were still asleep, but at the same time she could see that something had deeply troubled Anastasia. She couldn't leave Anastasia alone. She nodded and said, "Of course, I can stay with you for a while."

Anastasia smiled. She could tell that Abigail was kind, and she was thankful for that. She was already starting to feel better. "Thank you."

Abigail walked over and sat down in the chair in front of the vanity. Anastasia sat down on the edge of her bed. For a while the two of them sat in silence. Anastasia began to look out the window again, watching the raindrops gather there.

"Will you be staying here long?" Abigail asked suddenly. Anastasia looked back at her.

"I'm not exactly sure. I don't think we're staying here for a specific length of time. But I think we will most likely be here for a long time. How long have you been working here? How did you come to work here?"

"I've always lived here, but I've only been working here about three years. My parents are castle servants, too, and the position sort of got passed on to me. How do you know the prince?"

Anastasia didn't know how to answer her. She didn't want to tell her what she told her mother until she could get a chance to talk to the prince again, but she didn't want to make up another story, either. "I'm here because I fit the slipper," she said after a moment.

"Oh, you're the girl from the ball!" Abigail exclaimed.

Anastasia shook her head sullenly. "I was at the ball last night, but I didn't dance with the prince."

"Oh, I see. Does the prince still intend to marry you?"

Anastasia paused before shrugging. "I honestly don't know what his plans are. He hasn't proposed to me." Anastasia no longer felt that his proposal while under the wand's spell really counted. "And can we please just keep this a secret?"

Abigail nodded. She couldn't help but notice Anastasia hesitating with her questions. Was she making Anastasia feel uncomfortable? Since Anastasia had asked her to keep her company, she decided it would probably be best if she were to change the subject. "Are you enjoying your stay so far?"

"Yes, it's been very nice here. The prince has been very kind to me. Dinner was particularly nice. I usually cook for my family, but I'm not really that good at it. I think my sister really liked her salad, but she'll eat practically anything." She laughed as she remembered how earlier that afternoon Drizella had grabbed several large handfuls of food from the wedding samples and tried to shove them into her mouth.

Abigail smiled. "That's good to hear. My mother is actually one of the palace cooks, so it's always nice to hear a guest compliment the food."

"I would imagine so. My sister ate her salad so quickly that my mother told her to remember her table manners." She then remembered how Drizella looked afraid after her mother had said that. Anastasia suddenly realized that Drizella had seemed afraid shortly after Cinderella had tried to retake the wand. She decided to ask her sister about next time she'd have the chance.

"What's your mother like?"

Anastasia shuddered. She remembered how her mother always looked down on Cinderella. Doubtless she would do the same thing to whatever servant had the misfortune of being assigned to her. "My mother isn't very nice. She would never compliment me on anything. I'd recommend you try to avoid her if you can. I'd rather not talk about her. Do you like working on the palace staff?"

"Yes, the king treats us very well. There's a lot of work involved, but it's definitely worth it. The servants' quarters are nearly as nice as the rest of the palace."

"It sounds like you have things very nice here," Anastasia said.

Abigail nodded. "Yes, and since my mother works as a cook, she usually makes sure there's extra food left over for me."

Anastasia smirked. "Oh, don't tell my sister about that, or she'd be all over that." Abigail laughed.

"It sounds like your sister is funny."

Anastasia shook her head. "No, she really isn't that nice either. We fight a lot. We would always get into arguments while studying, and I would try to use what I'd learned to try to insult her. But sometimes it gets funny. One time at a party I told her she was eating like a pig, and she responded by shoving an apple in my mouth and saying that I was the pig."

Abigail laughed again. She looked towards the window. "Oh, it looks like the rain has stopped."

"So it has," Anastasia nodded. "You can go back to bed now if you want to."

Abigail rose from her seat and went to pick up the candle from the dresser. "It was very nice talking with you, Anastasia."

Anastasia smiled. "Thank you, Abigail."

Abigail then opened the door and walked into the hallway. As she closed the door behind her, Anastasia climbed back into bed. Feeling much better now, she quickly fell back asleep.

...

A/N: I really hope you liked this chapter. I put a lot of work into it. Please review it.

…


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone! I thought I'd surprise you with another chapter. It would make me very happy if I could get a lot of reviews for this chapter.

Chapter 4

Anastasia opened her eyes slowly. She groaned softly when she saw the sunlight coming in from outside. Anastasia's bedroom in the chateau didn't have windows, so she was not used to waking up to so much sunlight. It made her eyes hurt. She turned to her side and reached for the clock on her nightstand. As she sat up in bed, she looked at the clock and saw that it was eight o' clock in the morning. When Cinderella was forced to serve her stepfamily, Anastasia was able to sleep in every morning. But when Cinderella was brought to the palace after fitting the slipper, Anastasia and Drizella had to complete the chores that Cinderella had done. Anastasia couldn't stand it. Her mother had always told her that, as women of society, she and her sister would never have to perform the work of common servants. But they could not afford another servant after Cinderella had married Prince Charles. Her mother had spent most of the family's fortune on her and her sister. As the younger of the two, Anastasia had to wake up early every morning to cook breakfast for her mother and sister. She had just gotten used to waking up that early, but now with the reversal of time, she found herself able to sleep in once again without having to do any chores. The door suddenly opened and Anastasia saw Abigail enter the room carrying a large tray. A navy blue dress was draped over her arm.

"Good morning, Anastasia," she said cheerfully.

"Abigail?" Anastasia asked.

"Yes, I'm here with your breakfast. The Grand Duke told me that you needed to speak with the prince early this morning, so once you're finished, I'll help you get dressed and we'll escort you to the prince."

She placed the breakfast tray on the nightstand. On the tray was a bowl of porridge, a small plate of scrambled eggs, a small plate with an English muffin and jelly, a small teapot, and an empty teacup on a saucer. It was the exact same breakfast that Cinderella had made for her and her family nearly every morning for ten years. Anastasia frowned slightly when she saw the tray. She was happy that she was finally eating decent meals again, but it reminded her too much of her stepsister, and how poorly she had treated her.

"Anastasia, is something wrong?"

Anastasia quickly pushed the thought aside when she heard Abigail. It was bad enough that she was reminded of her past at nearly every waking moment. She didn't want to tell anyone else about it.

"No, everything's fine," she said quickly. "I was just thinking. That's all." With that she began to eat her breakfast. Once she had finished, Abigail held up the dress she had carried with her.

"This once belonged to the queen," she told her. Anastasia remembered how the king had mentioned her during their talk on the balcony. He hadn't said much about her, but she could tell that she was very kind, and that the two of them were very happy while they were together. The king had even told Anastasia that she reminded him of her. Anastasia could hardly believe the king's words when she had first heard them, and she found them even harder to believe after what she had learned the previous afternoon.

"Did you know her well?"

Abigail shook her head. "I remember talking with her a few times when I was very young. From what I remember, she was very kind and gentle. But we weren't particularly close, at least not any more than any other servant. If you'd like to learn more about her, you should probably talk to the king, or the prince. Come, let's get you dressed."

Anastasia stood up, and Abigail helped her out of the nightgown and into the dress. Like the nightgown, the dress looked a little loose on Anastasia.

"It doesn't quite fit, but I think it will be fine, until we can get you some new dresses. The prince has also arranged for you and your family to collect whatever belongings you wish from your home and bring them back to the castle with you. Are you ready to meet with the prince now?"

Anastasia nodded. Abigail led her into the hallway where the Grand Duke stood waiting.

"This way, Anastasia," he said, gesturing down the hallway.

…

Prince Charles sat at the dining room table, quietly eating breakfast. His father was sitting directly opposite him. Aside from greeting each other when they entered room, neither of them had yet spoken to the other. There was an uneasy tension within the room, given what they had been told the previous afternoon.

"Son?"

The king broke the relative silence in the room. The prince turned his attention away from his plate and looked across the table towards his father.

"Yes, father?" he asked while he finished eating a strip of bacon.

"I think it's time we began to discuss what we're going to do about this whole situation."

He nodded. "I agree. Have you thought about it at all?"

"Yes, I still think we should look for this Cinderella girl."

"I'm not sure if that's even possible, father. The ships' records at the dock made no mention of Cinderella or any other passenger. And even if we knew where she was, Anastasia's mother would use the wand against both of us as soon as we made any sort of attempt to find her."

The king realized his son had made a valid point, but he still felt very uncomfortable as long as Lady Tremaine was living in the castle. He wanted the woman arrested and out of their lives at the earliest possible moment.

"She might never even find out. We could secretly send scouts to the ships' destinations."

"But father, that could take months, or even years, to retrace every single voyage!"

"You were ready to marry the girl two nights ago! Do you wish to abandon her now just because things have changed? Do you want her stepmother to get away with this?"

"I can barely even remember her face! How am I supposed to recognize her? Anastasia says that I danced with Cinderella. The mice say I danced with Cinderella, but I can't remember dancing with her. All I remember is dancing with Anastasia. And besides, I obviously couldn't go on this mission. It would take too long, and her stepmother would grow suspicious. We can't send the guards, either. They wouldn't recognize her."

After he had finished his argument, the prince reached for his tea, hoping that it would provide him some comfort.

"Son, I'm not saying this just because of how you might have once felt about her. The woman was exiled for a crime she did not commit. She did not deserve to be banished. We need to undo this injustice."

The prince finished a sip and put the teacup back on its saucer as he thought about what his father had said. Cinderella did not deserve that fate. She had every right to do what she did. Once he realized that, he looked back up at his father and said, "You're right, Father, but this is not going to be easy. She is sure to have the wand well hidden or well protected. The first thing we'll need to do is see if it's hidden somewhere in her room. If we can't find it there, I'm not sure what else we can do. I fear that the only way we'll be able to retrieve it is if we catch her in the act of using it, and I'd rather not risk that. We'll plan the rest of it after we've searched her room."

When the prince finished speaking, they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Come in," the king shouted.

The door opened and the Grand Duke stepped into the room. "Your Majesty, Anastasia requests an audience with the two of you. She says it is urgent."

"Send her in," the king said.

The Grand Duke turned and gestured for Anastasia to enter the room. Anastasia then stepped through the doorway and slowly walked towards the table where they were sitting. She curtseyed and nervously said, "Good morning, Your Majesty."

"You wished to speak with us?" the king asked.

She nodded. "Yes, Your Majesty. When I returned to my mother, she immediately asked if you had found out about the wand. I followed your orders and said that you had not. She then asked me if there would still be a wedding. I felt I had no choice but to tell her that the wedding would still take place. I told her it had been delayed because you wished to see if I could handle the responsibilities of being a princess. I was trying to keep my mother from using the wand on your son again."

The king raised his eyebrows at this.

"Would you please excuse us for a moment?" he asked her.

Anastasia nodded and quickly walked out the room. The Grand Duke then closed the door.

"I knew this was a bad idea," the king said. "I should have advised you against this yesterday afternoon."

"You cannot blame her for this, father! We should have anticipated that her mother still expected me to marry her."

"Don't you see it, son? She is trying to ensnare you! She is trying to force you into marrying her!" the king burst out.

"But she said that..."

"You have no reason to believe anything she says!" the king interrupted. "She is an imposter! Her mother tried to conspire against the crown! We should have imprisoned the three of them the moment we found out what they had done!" the king continued shouting.

"If we had done that, her mother would have placed us both under another spell," the prince said calmly.

Prince Charles quickly saw that his argument did not sway his father. He was still fuming. The prince had never seen his father so upset before, and he suspected that there was something personal behind his father's anger.

"Father, I'm starting to think there's another reason why you're so angry with her. You almost seem to be taking this personally. When you talked with her yesterday, what did you discuss?"

"I told her the story about how your mother and I first met, and how I knew we were meant for each other the instant our hands met. I said that true love was the most powerful force in the world. She seemed greatly moved by it. I told her the story because I honestly thought that she was the girl from the ball. I even gave her the queen's seashell because I thought that she was your true love. But then when I found out that she had deceived us all, I felt betrayed, to think that I had given one of my most prized gifts to someone who didn't deserve it."

"I suppose that must have been hard to take," the prince conceded. "But that's still no excuse for saying those things about her. I think she deserves a chance to prove herself."

"How do you know that the spell isn't still influencing you?"

"I haven't stopped thinking about what she said yesterday, when she told us that she just wanted to be happy. You heard her say it, and you're not under a spell."

"I suppose you're right," the king said reluctantly. "But how can we know she was, in fact, telling the truth when she said that?"

The king and prince tried to think of a reason they could trust her. "I'm not sure, father. We obviously can't ask her mother or sister. The only other person who has interacted with her is...the Grand Duke." They both turned to the Grand Duke, who had been silent up to that moment.

"What was your impression of her?" the prince asked him.

"She seemed very happy when the herald announced that the slipper fit her. She was practically jumping for joy before she began to twirl around the room and perform cartwheels, laughing nearly the entire time," the Grand Duke explained.

The prince laughed upon hearing this. The king once again raised his eyebrows. After thinking for a moment, he hesitantly said, "Alright, son, I'll give her a second chance. I will try to speak with her again when I have the chance."

"Well, we still have to address the issue of what she told her mother," the prince reminded.

"What do you suppose we should do?"

"She told her mother that we wanted to see if she could adjust to royal life," the prince observed. "I think we should assign her a lady-in-waiting. We need to keep up this illusion."

"I only hope Prudence is ready for this."

"She can handle this. Now, are we agreed, then?"

The king nodded.

"We should tell Anastasia, then."

The prince quickly rose from his seat and headed towards the door. Once he opened it, he stepped out into the hall, and began, "Anastasia, we have decided that-" He then stopped suddenly and turned to look at his father.

"Son, what is it? What's wrong?" the king asked nervously while rising from his seat.

"Anastasia has gone!" the prince exclaimed.

…

Anastasia ran down the hallway as fast as she could, her face buried in her hands. Moments ago, when she had been standing outside the door, she couldn't help but overhear the conversation between the king and the prince. As soon as the door had been closed, one of her worst fears had been confirmed. The king no longer trusted her. Just the previous afternoon, he had treated her like his own daughter. He had shown her genuine kindness that she hadn't seen from anyone in years. Cinderella had always been kind to her, but she had resented her too much to notice.

But now all of that was undone because she had been too naïve to realize what she was doing until it was too late. Everything he had said cut through her like a knife. When she heard the king accuse her of trying to trap the prince, she couldn't bear to hear any more of it. She turned on her heels and ran away. By the time she had stopped running, she was right in front of her bedroom door. When she stepped into the room, she had never felt so alone in her entire life. In the past twenty-four hours her entire world had been turned upside down. She had lost the king's trust. She had learned her mother had possibly never loved her or her sister. Her mother was willing to deny her the one thing she wanted more than anything in the world, true love, if it meant more power for herself. She was afraid of her mother. She was afraid she might be forced to marry someone who didn't truly love her. But perhaps worst of all, she now realized what an awful person she had been for the past decade. These feelings finally caused her to lose her struggle to keep her poise. She burst into tears and threw herself at her bedside, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Why is it that every time I try to set things right, I only end up making things worse?" she whimpered. "Don't they realize how much they're hurting me? Don't they see how awful I feel? Please, God, help me, I'm so scared. I just want to be happy again. Please, help me."

Amidst her sobbing she heard a pair of squeaky voices conversing with each other.

"Do you think it's safe?"

"I don't know, Gus Gus. She might have been faking it."

"But she looks really sad."

"Yes, _looks _sad."

Anastasia blinked her eyes and wiped away her tears as best she could. She looked around the room but saw she was the only person in the room.

"Who said that?" she called out.

"Over here! Over here!" one of the voices said before the other said, "No, Gus Gus, no! We can't have her see us!"

Anastasia had already turned in the direction of the voices, but she still couldn't see who was speaking. She tilted her head down and started back when she saw an unusual sight. Before her eyes was a pair of mice, in clothing. One was thin, wearing what looked like a red turtleneck, an orange jacket, and a red hat; the other one, which was plump, had a yellow shirt and a green hat. Both mice also wore small brown shoes. Anastasia was usually afraid of mice, but her curiosity got the better of her. They looked strangely familiar. "You can talk?" she asked them. The mice then looked up and screamed before turning and running back towards a small hole in the wall. Anastasia quickly went down to her knees and crawled towards the hole.

"Wait! Please, come back! I promise I won't hurt you."

The two mice stopped suddenly and slowly turned around to face Anastasia. Even with what they had seen yesterday, they still weren't sure they could actually trust Anastasia. The thin mouse whispered something to the other one before they both emerged from the mouse hole. They stopped directly in front of the hole.

"Who…do you have names?" she asked softly. She felt ridiculous asking such a question to a pair of mice. But they could talk, and someone had taken the time to make clothes for them, so Anastasia thought that it wouldn't be too improbable for them to have names, too.

The thin mouse nodded and spoke up. Even if they didn't fully trust Anastasia, he reasoned that she couldn't harm them by knowing their names. "My name is Jaq Jaq, and my friend here is Gus Gus."

A look of recognition flashed across Anastasia's face again.

"You…you were under my teacup," she said while pointing at Gus, who slowly nodded his head.

"But then how did you get here?"

The mice looked at each other and nodded. Jaq looked up at her and said, "We were friends with Cinderelly. She brought us with her when she snuck into the palace. We tried to help her make princey remember who she was."

"Cinderella?"

They nodded. Anastasia frowned, realizing what that meant. They had seen her torment Cinderella in the past. "You must think I'm a horrible person, then."

The two mice looked at each other again. Had they been asked that question just a day earlier, they undoubtedly would have said that they did. But now they really didn't know what they thought of Anastasia. They had not forgotten that she was partially responsible for making Cinderella's life absolutely miserable for nearly ten years, and had inadvertently played a part in her being exiled, but they also noticed that Anastasia appeared to have changed since the previous morning. She seemed truly overjoyed when the prince had proposed to her while he was under the wand's spell. And later, while they tried to retrieve the wand, they overheard Anastasia tell her mother how much she wanted the prince to love her.

"We saw you talk to princey yesterday. We were hiding on the chandelier," Jaq said, deciding to change the subject.

Anastasia gasped. "You saw everything?"

The two mice nodded. Anastasia studied the two mice intently. Since they were mice, she realized that they could probably sneak around the palace without being seen.

"Could you help me with something?"

Jaq and Gus looked at her warily.

"What do you want?" Jaq asked.

"Did you actually talk to the prince?"

They both nodded.

"Could you please watch my mother?"

Jaq and Gus looked at each other before looking back at Anastasia. Even after what they had seen the previous afternoon, they were not fully sure that they could trust Anastasia. The two mice knew all too well about how she had acted in the past. They still suspected that Anastasia may have only confessed in order to escape being punished. Silently hoping that his judgment wasn't impaired, Jaq spoke up again and asked, "Why do you want us to watch your mother?"

"My mother might use the wand on him again if she finds out what I told him. She would put him back under a spell. I don't want that to happen, but I can't see what she's doing all the time. I only want him to marry me if he truly loves me."

"But Princey loves Cinderelly!" Jaq shouted.

Anastasia was taken aback by Jaq's outburst. It brought both a pang of jealousy and the unbearable feeling of guilt she had felt almost non-stop for the past day. Immediately she began to tear up at this. She opened her mouth as though she were about to speak, but didn't know what to say in response. Before she could think of a response a voice called out her name.

"Anastasia?"

Anastasia quickly looked to her right and saw Prince Charles standing in the doorway. He looked concerned. Anastasia quickly rose to her feet and tried to straighten out her skirt.

"Your Highness," she said nervously.

"Why did you run off like that just now?" he asked, before noticing the tear marks on her cheeks. "Were you crying?"

She nodded as more tears formed in her eyes. "I overheard what your father said about me. It hurt me so much I couldn't hear any more of it. Please, Your Highness, I was only trying to protect you. If my mother knew about everything, she would put you back under a spell. I would never…I didn't mean to…I-I couldn't…I…I'm so sorry." She closed her eyes and tried to turn away from the prince, before he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back towards him.

"No, Anastasia, I should be sorry," he said, giving her a gentle hug. Anastasia began to tremble as she returned the hug. "I didn't give you instructions for what to tell your mother if she asked about that. I should have realized that would have happened the minute you went back to the room. It's alright. This isn't your fault. I told my father that you deserve a chance to prove we can trust you. He is willing to give you a chance."

Anastasia was shocked. _The prince is actually _defending _me? _He wiped away some of the tears from her cheeks, making Anastasia smile.

"But there are some things we need to discuss. Since you told your mother there will still be a wedding, we have to maintain appearances."

The prince reached into his pocket and took out the engagement ring that Anastasia had returned to him. He gave it back to her and said, "You need to start wearing this again." Anastasia nodded and put the ring back on.

"I think you should also start joining me and my father at meals. Since you're going to be staying at the palace for a while, I would like to get to know you a little better."

Anastasia couldn't keep from smiling at that.

"Because you said that we wanted to see if you could handle royal duties, we will also assign you a lady-in-waiting. She will give you basic lessons on how to conduct yourself around the palace, and in public. My father is talking to her now."

"Can I still keep the servant I've been assigned?"

"Yes, she's only going to give you lessons on royal protocol. Have you met Abigail yet?"

Anastasia nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. She's very kind."

The king suddenly appeared and entered the room.

"Ah, son, there you are. I've just finished talking with…" He immediately paused when he saw Anastasia with him. For a moment, the king hesitated. He thought about telling Anastasia that he would want to speak with her again later. But before he said anything, he decided that it would be best to wait until after she had met with Prudence. He then turned to her and said, "Has my son told you what we discussed while you were waiting outside?"

She nodded. The king stood straight up and said, "I've just finished talking with Prudence. She would like to meet with Anastasia. She's waiting in the palace library."

He then motioned for Anastasia to follow him.

…

A/N: Many reviews for this chapter would be much appreciated. I'm not entirely sure if the conversations are quite right here. If you review this chapter, please review the previous chapter, too.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello, readers! After a longer period than I normally would, I bring you the fifth chapter. Please leave a review of this and previous chapters. It seems like suns and stars and CocoRocks are the only two people that review my chapters, and for that I thank them, but I would really like to see more reviews!

Chapter 5

As the king led Anastasia down the hallway, he told her various stories about Prudence. The prince blushed as his father told Anastasia about some of the more embarrassing stories.

"Of course, sometimes my son didn't want to take his lessons on certain days. I remember one time Prudence and I had to look for him, and it took us several hours before we found him hiding under his bed."

"Father, I really don't think she needs to hear this."

But Anastasia had already burst into a fit of giggles, making the prince blush even more.

When they stopped outside the door, the prince noticed that Anastasia suddenly looked nervous.

"Don't worry, Anastasia, you'll do fine."

"I'm not worried about that, Your Highness. I'm worried about how long we can keep this up. If my mother finds out, she'll-"

The king raised his hand and said, "I think we need to make sure that no one else finds out about this, my dear. Did you talk to anyone else after our conversation yesterday afternoon?"

"Last night I told my servant that your son hadn't proposed to me. I didn't want to lie to anyone else."

"We'll have to include your servant on this, then. What's your servant's name?"

"Abigail."

"Would you like me to talk to her for you?"

Anastasia shook her head. "No, Your Majesty. I think this is something I need to do myself," she said softly.

The king nodded and said, "Very well, Anastasia, but I think it would best if I were present while you are speaking with her." He then opened the door and led Anastasia inside the room. A young woman with chestnut brown hair was sitting at the end of a long table in the middle of the room. She stood up once she saw Anastasia.

"Prudence, this is Anastasia," the king began. "I would like you to provide her lessons on how to adjust to becoming royalty."

Prudence nodded. "Of course, Your Majesty." As the king turned to leave the room, Prudence turned back to Anastasia and said, "I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Prudence and I've served in the palace staff for several years. I served as a governess for Prince Charles when he was younger. Since then I've been in charge of the castle servants. I have run the palace staff with the greatest efficiency, before a…rather unpleasant incident that occurred yesterday."

"Incident?"

"Yes, some woman tried to enter the palace through the servant's entrance, claiming to be the royal mouse-catcher, of all things. I'd never seen her before, and I think she must have been trying to sneak in, because a pair of mice immediately showed up and wreaked havoc all over the kitchen."

Anastasia quickly realized that Prudence was talking about Cinderella. She gestured towards a table where the two women sat down.

"I feel that if I'm supposed to help you become a princess, I think it would be best if I learned a little about you. Now, King Hugh told me that your last name is Tremaine, and that your mother remarried shortly after your father died. Was Lord Tremaine your father, or your step-father?"

"He was my stepfather."

"Who was your previous governess?"

"For the past ten years my mother has been my governess."

A look of confusion came across Prudence's face. She found it odd that her family hadn't employed a governess for such a long time. It was not as though her family couldn't afford to hire one. The Tremaine family was known to be very prominent. From what Prudence knew, it made very little sense. "I see. We should probably begin your first lesson, then. I would like to see just how effective a governess your mother was."

Prudence got up from her seat and walked towards a nearby bookshelf, where she retrieved a book before sitting back down at the table.

"Etiquette should be a proper beginning. Could you please demonstrate your curtsey?"

Anastasia rose from her seat and dropped down into her best curtsey. Prudence cringed when she saw how clumsy Anastasia's curtsey was. She quickly guessed that Anastasia's mother was not a very good teacher, which made things even more surprising. If her mother couldn't even teach her the basics of etiquette, what could have possibly possessed her to keep herself from hiring another governess?

"Why didn't she hire a governess?"

Anastasia decided that it was a bad idea to tell Prudence the real reason why her mother hadn't kept their governess after her stepfather died. Furthermore, she felt she probably shouldn't mention _anything_ about Cinderella.

"She couldn't afford one."

This was at least partially true. Eventually, her mother had spoiled her and Drizella so much that she had squandered most of the family fortune. That was why they couldn't afford another servant after Cinderella had originally left. Prudence scowled at her answer, leaving Anastasia uncomfortable. She didn't believe her, suspecting that she was hiding something. But at the moment Prudence did not press the issue. She didn't particularly care about it. The circumstances, whatever they were, had left her with more pressing issues. She had to prepare Anastasia to become royalty, and if her curtsey was any indication, it was going to take a while. Realizing this, Prudence stood straight up and said, "We should continue with your lessons. I fear this may take longer than I had expected."

…

After they had left the library, King Hugh turned back towards his son and asked, "Are you ready to begin the plan?"

Prince Charles nodded, "Yes, father. Do you have a plan to distract Lady Tremaine? I obviously can't search the room while she's there."

"Since she thinks you still intend to marry her daughter, we can use this to our advantage. I will tell her I'd like to meet with her in my study in order to discuss wedding plans. You can search her bedroom while I'm with her. Let's go and find her." The prince nodded and reluctantly followed behind his father. He wasn't looking forward to meeting with her again, and he suspected his father also wanted no part of her, but it couldn't be helped. The two of them quickly walked down the hallway where they eventually found Lady Tremaine.

"Ah, good morning, Your Majesty, Your Highness," her cold voice said.

Prince Charles froze at the sound at the sound of her voice. He could feel his blood boil as he and his father approached her, wringing his hands together in order to contain his anger. He had felt uncomfortable in Lady Tremaine's presence even _before _he had learned about the spell, but now he was completely disgusted with her. One thing he had decided for certain. If he _still _ended up marrying Anastasia after all this, he would make certain that Lady Tremaine would gain nothing from the marriage.

"Good morning, Miss Tremaine," he finally managed to say. "I hope you're enjoying your time here at the palace."

"Quite well, yes. I would like to apologize once again for that incident with my maid yesterday afternoon. I do hope that she didn't cause too much trouble."

"No trouble at all, madam. My son informed me that it has since been settled," the king said as best he could. "In fact, I was just looking for you. It has been brought to my attention that the Grand Duke's wedding preparations were not satisfactory. I'm offering to arrange them personally, with your input. We could begin immediately, if you wish."

Lady Tremaine grinned and said, "That would be fine, Your Majesty. I simply cannot wait until the day my daughter becomes our next princess."

"Indeed, and that is all the more reason for us to begin. If you would follow me to my study, we may discuss things there."

"Will your son be joining us, Your Majesty?"

"Actually, he cannot, Miss Tremaine. He has to meet with a delegate from a neighboring kingdom, and I don't wish to keep them waiting any longer than they already have."

The Prince realized this was his cue to begin his search and said, "Of course, father. I will inform you of how the meeting went once we have concluded." With that, he quickly departed towards his study. Once he reached the study, he sat at his desk and waited for a few minutes to make sure he could sneak into Lady Tremaine's bedroom. _This isn't going to work,_ he thought to himself. The prince suspected that Lady Tremaine would not leave the wand unattended in her room, but he had to make sure of it. He then left the room and made his way to the guests' wing of the palace. Meeting no one in the hallway, he quickly stepped into Lady Tremaine's slowly opened the drawer in the vanity. The drawer was completely empty. The dressers and wardrobe were also empty, just as he had expected. He took one more look around the room to see if there was anywhere else the wand could have been hidden. His eyes centered on the bed. _I probably should check there. _He found nothing. The wand wasn't in the room. As he stepped back into the hallway, he realized that he and his father were just stalling. _How long do you think you're going to keep this up?_ He froze when suddenly when he heard a voice address him.

…

After a good night's sleep, Drizella was feeling much better than before. When she woke up, she quickly learned that she had been assigned a personal servant, and she had brought her breakfast in bed. Once she had eaten breakfast and been dressed, Drizella was eager to begin her life while living in the palace. She hoped to ask the king if she could explore the palace at some point. As she stepped out into the hallway, she heard a voice. Drizella spun around to meet the voice. When she saw the prince standing there, she quickly dropped into a curtsey and said, "Oh, hello, Your Highness."

Prince Charles looked up and saw who had addressed him. He recognized her as Anastasia's older sister. "Good morning…I'm sorry, but I don't believe I ever learned your name."

She nodded and said, "That's alright, Your Highness. I don't believe we were ever properly introduced. My name is Drizella. Can I help you with something?"

The prince hesitated as he tried to come up with an explanation. "Are you enjoying things at the palace?" he quickly asked.

Drizella nodded as she nervously toyed with her bow. "Yes, Your Highness. Everything has been fine. Since you're here, could I possibly take a tour of the palace at some point today?"

"I'm sure my father could arrange that for you, yes. If you'll excuse me, I have something to attend to." With that, the prince quickly turned on his heels and continued down the hallway. Drizella stood there for a moment, feeling slightly confused. _Was the prince nervous?_ She shrugged off the feeling and went off to see if she could find the king.

…

Prince Charles hastily hurried back to his study. He feared that encountering Drizella would cause problems, because he suspected that she was also involved her mother's plot. The last time he had seen her, she had run up to the balcony and shouted taunts at Cinderella as the guards were dragging her away from the palace.

"_Nice try, but we won!"_

He hadn't understood what that meant at first, but now it was perfectly clear. Drizella was referring to the plot. She must have been involved in it, too. When he made it back to his study, Prince Charles found that he was sweating. He quickly shut the door and sat down at his desk, panting heavily. He couldn't appear nervous, he realized while he began to pace back and forth throughout the room. As he sat back down at his desk, he began to think about what had happened. Had Drizella found out? Was she even involved at all? After waiting for an hour, he went to find his father.

Shortly afterwards the prince ran into Anastasia, who had just finished her first lesson with Prudence. When he asked her how it went, Anastasia told him that Prudence was stricter than she had imagined, but felt that she understood her. The prince realized that both of them had had very stressful mornings. He felt that the two of them could relax for a while.

"Anastasia, would you like to join me for a walk later this afternoon?" he offered. Anastasia smiled and said, "I would love to, Your Highness."

The prince returned the smile and said, "I have to meet with my father for a second. If you head to outside to palace gardens, I can meet you by the gate to the entrance."

Anastasia nodded and went off to find a guard to escort her there. When the prince reached his father's study, he found the door open. His father had finished his "meeting" with Lady Tremaine. As soon as he entered the room, his father quickly went to the door. After he had closed the door, he turned back to his son and asked, "Did you find the wand?"

The prince quickly shook his head and answered, "No father, I couldn't find it. I honestly didn't expect to find it in there. If I were using a magic wand, I certainly wouldn't leave it somewhere where anyone could find it and take it from me. I would make sure I'd always have it on me."

His father nodded, realizing that his son was right. "Nonetheless," he began, "we now know for certain that she's carrying it around with her. We can simply confront her and take the wand from her."

"I'm not sure it will be that easy, father. We'll only get one chance at that. She could use the wand to escape before we can place her under arrest. I feel we'll need to plan this very carefully."

"Son, I simply do not feel comfortable having her around in this castle."

"I feel the exact same way, father, but I feel we have to consider this from all angles. What if the wand is hidden somewhere else? If we go up to her and confront her about the wand, and she doesn't have it on her, she could still cause more trouble. Even if we arrest her, we'd still have to worry about her other daughter. Drizella might be involved, too. I just think it's far too risky to do anything at the moment."

The king sighed impatiently, realizing once again that his son was right. The two of them then left the study and continued on with the day.

…

Anastasia was sitting on a bench near the gate in front of the palace gardens, waiting for the prince to arrive. It was very warm outside and her loose dress felt very comfortable. She had been waiting for several minutes before she heard the sound of footsteps. When she looked up, she saw the prince dressed in plain clothes. "Hello, Anastasia," he said politely, gesturing towards the path. "Shall we begin?" he offered. Anastasia nodded and stood from the bench, and the two of them began to walk through the gardens. After taking a few steps, the prince paused and turned to look at Anastasia.

"Anastasia?" he gently asked.

Anastasia turned around and looked at the prince in curiosity.

"I'd like to know some more about you," he said softly.

Anastasia smiled, happy that he was taking up an interest in her.

"You can start anywhere."

"My parents originally planned to name me Elizabeth. But then I was born on Easter Sunday, and when I was presented to be baptized, they decided to name me Anastasia instead."

"Anastasia is a very beautiful name."

"Thank you, Your Highness. My father told me it meant 'resurrection,' and I was born on the day of the Resurrection."

"Could you tell me about your father?"

"I…haven't thought of him in a long time. I remember he and I were very close. He always told me that I was so full of live because I was born on a day of rebirth. When I turned three years old, it was a few days after Easter, so instead of an 'Easter egg hunt,' we had a 'birthday present hunt.' My father hid all my presents and I had to go and find them."

The prince let out a small laugh when he heard this. "Do you remember what presents you got?" he asked curiously. Anastasia nodded and continued, "That was the year I got my favorite toy, a porcelain doll. I took it _everywhere_. It was the best birthday I'd ever had."

The prince smiled, thinking back on his own experiences when he was younger. The two of them were now standing over a small bridge overlooking a stream. The prince folded his arms and leaned against the side of the bridge, looking down at the water. When he turned around and looked back at Anastasia, he found that her smile had been replaced with a somber frown. "I miss him," she said after a few seconds. The prince nodded, realizing that he and Anastasia had at least one thing in common. They both had lost a parent that they'd loved so much, and that they had missed them terribly. As they began to walk again, Anastasia and the prince soon sat down on a bench near the stream. "I miss my mother, too," the prince whispered to himself.

"What was she like?" Anastasia asked curiously.

The prince leaned back as he tried to recall distant memories of his mother. "She was probably the kindest person I'd ever known, always trying to find something good about everybody. Even as queen, she tried to get to know everyone as well as she could. She would often invite servants to join her for various things, like meals, tea, games, and parties. When I was little, she would read me bedtime stories every night."

Anastasia nodded. She sounded so much like Cinderella. "I wish my mother had been like that." Prince Charles wasn't sure how to answer that, so he chose to keep silent.

Anastasia looked up at the sun. Even though it had rained most of the day yesterday, it was still rather hot outside. As she thought about this, the water looked more inviting.

"Could we please sit closer to the stream?"

The prince nodded and led her to the banks of the stream where they both sat down on the soft grass. Anastasia then removed her slippers and gently lowered her bare feet into the water. The prince smirked when he saw this and asked, "Was that why you wanted to sit closer to the stream?" Anastasia nodded and giggled softly. The prince nodded as well, noticing how hot it was. Anastasia looked back at the prince and suddenly asked, "Your Highness, what's going to happen when all this is done?"

"I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to ask, Anastasia."

"Do you still plan to look for Cinderella?"

"To be honest with you, I just don't know what we're going to do. My father told me that I should, and I suppose he's right. If I really did dance with her, and if she really was trying to remind me of who she was, then she didn't deserve to be banished. But the problem is I don't even remember her, so even if I _do _find her, I have no idea what would happen after that. I danced with her a few hours, a dance I don't even remember. There's also the chance we may never find her, and even if we do, it could take months, or even years, before we find her. I can't rely on the wand because I don't know if it has the power to reverse spells."

"The old woman is the only person who could know that."

The prince stared at her with a confused look on his face. "Old woman?" he asked.

Anastasia nodded. "Yes, the woman who originally owned the wand."

The prince then remembered Anastasia's story from yesterday, and how her mother had gained control of the wand. "Of, of course," he said to himself. "But she was turned into stone, so she can't help us with this." The prince soon realized that Anastasia would know where they could find the "old woman."

"Could you take me to her?"

"Yes, I could, Your Highness, but if I do, aren't you worried that my mother will catch you?

"We'll ride out on horses, and we won't be leaving through the main entrance. We would draw too much attention with one of the carriages. There's a small path that leads outside the palace grounds. It shouldn't be too hard to reach your home from there." He quickly stood up and continued, "We should probably head there right now. It's as good a time as any." After Anastasia put her slippers back on, the prince helped her up and led her to the stable. As they walked Anastasia asked the prince, "Does this mean you don't know what you'll do with us?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Aren't you going to punish me and my family? I'll understand if you will."

"Why would I do that to you?"

"Because I've wronged you, Your Highness. I tried to take what wasn't mine. Because of me, your one true love is gone."

"No, Anastasia, this _isn't_ your fault. I won't punish you. My only plan is take the wand back from your mother and try to undo what had been done. I might punish her in due time, but not you."

"What will happen to my sister, then?"

At that moment, the prince realized that Anastasia would probably know if her sister was part of her mother's plot. "Was your sister involved?"

"Not directly, Your Highness, but I know she has always sided with my mother until now. But I've noticed she's changed since yesterday afternoon. After my mother found out that you had run off to look for Cinderella, she was set on using the wand on you again. I _begged _her not to because I only wanted to marry you if I thought you could love me. Normally my sister would have ridiculed me for thinking such things, but she looked and sounded frail. She was afraid of something. Even after I made up a story to keep you from being placed under another spell, she was _still _afraid. She and I haven't always gotten along, but she's my sister, and I still care about her. If there's any chance she could change, I want to take it. I've given up on my mother, but I don't want to lose my sister, too."

The prince ran a hand through his dark brown hair. He still wasn't entirely sure about Drizella. Even if she wasn't involved, if she found out that he and has father really had learned about the wand, then that would only lead to trouble. He realized that they would have to confront Drizella and persuade her to work with them. "If you can convince your sister to join our side, then she will be pardoned when all this is done."

Anastasia managed a faint smile. "Thank you, Your Highness," she said timidly.

When they finally reached the stable, the prince turned to Anastasia and asked, "Have you ever ridden a horse, Anastasia?"

She silently shook her head. "Not in a long time, Your Highness," she answered. "There is a horse back at the chateau, but he belonged to Cinderella. Her father once taught me how to ride, but my mother instructed me that, as a lady, I would never need to ride on a horse. I haven't ridden one since my stepfather died."

The prince nodded, remembering how long it had been since her stepfather died. "He should still be at the chateau, along with her pet dog," she added. The prince then realized that it had probably been a while since either one of them had been fed. It gave them another reason to head to the chateau as quickly as they could. He quickly went into the stable and emerged a few minutes later leading a horse by the reins.

"It isn't too difficult. If you want, you could ride with me," he offered.

Anastasia nodded, trying to hide that she was smiling from getting a chance to be closer to him. As the prince mounted the horse, he reached down with his hand and helped Anastasia climb up, where she then sat on the back of the saddle. Once she was securely in place, she wrapped her arms around his waist. Prince Charles gently urged the horse forward and they began to move slowly away from the stable. He thought it best to ride slowly since it had been years since Anastasia had last ridden a horse. After a short ride, they reached the backyard of the chateau, where they stopped in front of the large fountain. The prince slowly helped Anastasia down from the horse before dismounting the horse himself. When he looked in front of him, he saw a statue of an elderly woman with her left hand raised, as though she were reaching for something.

"Is this the woman?" he asked while pointing at the statue. Anastasia nodded. The prince continued to look at the statue as he said, "Once we have control of the wand, we can come back here and try to undo this. Do you know how to use the wand?"

Anastasia nodded once again and said, "I believe so, Your Highness. The magic words are 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.' I think you merely have to say what you want it to do."

"Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," the prince repeated to himself in a whisper. "That shouldn't be too hard to remember." He looked off towards the house and continued, "Since we're here, I suppose we should feed the animals. They probably haven't been fed for a while. Are the any other animals here besides the horse and the dog?"

"Some chickens, Your Highness," Anastasia nodded. "I believe Cinderella kept a feed bag in the kitchen." She led the prince inside the kitchen, where he found a bloodhound dog sleeping on a rug in the middle of the room.

"What's his name?" he asked while pointing at the dog.

"Bruno," she answered. "Cinderella's had him ever since I'd first met her." When she turned back to the prince, she saw him reaching for a small bowl on the shelf.

"I noticed a well not too far from the fountain. I thought I'd give him some water," he explained. Anastasia nodded in agreement as she picked up the feed bag. She carried the bag outside as she walked towards the chicken coops. The chickens perked up the moment they saw the bag. It had been more than two days since the last time they had eaten. Anastasia then reached into the bag and threw several large handfuls of corn into the air. She had to duck out of the way as several chickens flew to the area and eagerly gobbled up the kernels lying on the ground. When she made it back to the kitchen, she found the prince kneeling on the floor, patting Bruno on the head as the dog eagerly drank from the bowl. He stood up and turned his head towards Anastasia. "Ready to feed the horse?" he asked. She nodded. The two of them went back outside and hurried towards the well. Anastasia set the feed bag on the ground and she helped the prince lower the bucket down into the well. After the bucket was filled with water, the prince quickly pulled the bucket back up. As he reached for the bucket, he paused and looked at Anastasia very closely. He could see that she was still afraid. He wanted to reassure Anastasia that everything would be alright, but he wasn't convinced of that himself. He thought for a moment as poured the water into the trough and watched the horse drink from it. After they had finished up, he realized what he could say to her. As they were about to return to the palace, he stopped in front of the horse and then said, "Anastasia, I think what you're doing is very brave."

Anastasia stopped and looked at the prince in confusion. The prince continued, "I know you're afraid. But you're not letting it stop you. I think it's very brave of you."

Anastasia was flattered by the prince's words, but she didn't understand why he was treating her so kindly. She had been spoiled and selfish for nearly her entire life, but he still treated her like any other person.

"Your Highness? Why are you doing this? Why are you being so kind to me?"

The prince hesitated. He hadn't really thought about that. He had simply been doing what he thought was right, but that didn't seem like the only reason. At that moment, it dawned on him that, on some level, he cared about Anastasia.

"Because I want to help you," he answered after a moment. "I said I thought what you're doing is brave. I think what you're doing what is right. Even with what you told me about your past, I think you've changed since I've met you. You don't seem cruel, or spoiled, or petty to me. When I look at you I see someone who is kind, and caring. You deserve to be happy."

Anastasia smiled widely. For the first time in years, she felt that she had found someone who genuinely cared about her. She quickly threw her arms around the prince in a tight hug. The prince then helped her mount the horse for the ride back to the palace. As the horse began to trot ahead, Anastasia smiled happily as she found herself cuddling up close to the prince.

…

A/N: Wow, 5,000 words! I think this chapter is a mess, but I wanted to upload it on Easter because of some of the lines of the story. This chapter was a "perfect storm" of sorts. With the name Anastasia meaning "resurrection," I held off on posting the chapter until Easter Sunday. By amazing coincidence, the day on which Easter falls this year, March 31st, just happens to be the birthday of the original voice actress of Anastasia, Lucille Bliss, who sadly passed away last autumn.

I hope the end of the chapter isn't too clichéd.


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